Way Beyond Light Bulbs: 7 New Year's Global Warming Resolutions

This list is not about light bulbs, hybrid cars and Energy Star appliances -- about the little things that we as individuals can do to solve climate. This is about what we as citizens can demand from our country, so that it does the big things that can only be accomplished on a national scale.

So I asked myself - What stands in the way of climate action that would benefit every American -- and every citizen of the world? Here's a list seven changes for the coming year, changes that would utterly transform the global search for climate solutions.

They would also extend the hope of peace and prosperity around the world, and chart the course for a new America that leads the world by example.

1. Adopt a Zero Tolerance Policy against Denialism
Global warming denialism is America's original contribution to the shameful and deadly politics of deliberate misinformation. Despite the best collaborative scientific effort ever mounted on the planet (IPCC) which has confirmed human-induced global warming and the urgent need for action, denialists persist in their efforts to confuse the American public and undermine rational policymaking progress. They have, unfortunately, been quite effective, and their well-documented network is far-reaching.

Denialists come in a variety of international flavors. American ones deny global warming and the need for action. Others, like Iranian President Ahmedinejad, deny the Holocaust ever happened. Japanese leaders deny its military's responsibility in the creation and maintenance of sex slaves in China during World War II. And the Turkish government denies the genocide of Armenians during the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The denialist tactic is consistent: refuse to admit inconvenient truths. Psychoanalysts understand that denial is a primitive and childish defense mechanism. It has become a dangerous disease that is infecting the US body politic.

It's time for zero tolerance of this anti-social phenomenon, abetted by an acquiescent and unthinking media, still oblivious to the well-documented evidence that in global warming discourse "balance is bias" if denialists are granted equal voice. Even in the last month of this year, we still see new evidence of the denialist machinery given too much credence, or global warming discussion put in a skeptical frame, or the discussion ignored - i.e. denied -- almost altogether by media elites.

Especially ripe for change is the Wall Street Journal. We've documented how denialists spoon feed its editorial pages, and we've made a plea to its new owner, Rupert Murdoch, for more enlightened leadership.

Go ahead. Accuse me of advocating press censorship. I'm not.

2. Pursue Clean Energy with Moonshot Zeal
There is virtually nobody in America who is against clean energy. It polls off the charts. The technology we need is already available, affordable and ready for prime time, and global warming is the new Sputnik. Time to respond to the challenge, not from fear of the Soviets this time, but from a far greater threat to national security and global well-being that will spare no nation.

Problem is, clean energy has no powerful lobby and does not make fat campaign contributions. That's why the latest energy bill contained rich provisions for continued oil subsidies, but not a nickel for solar or wind energy. Those funds got cut out by acquiescent Senators, and the deliberate omission was signed into law by the President -- a little noticed crime of neglect inside a backward bill hailed by all as "historic."

Clean energy will be the engine of economic prosperity in coming decades -- it's where the new jobs and the new prosperity are to be found. Without a lobby, there's only the overwhelming power of the ballot box that can speak and force the needed change that would indeed be historic.

Like landing on the moon.

3. Put an End to Politics as Usual
The only way climate has a chance of being solved is by putting an end to business-as-usual. Business-as-usual -- BAU -- that's the term and acronym everybody uses as shorthand for what happens if we do nothing about global warming.

And here's the only way to put an end to business as usual: put an end to poliitics as usual. Let's label that PAU. They go hand in hand, two sides of the same coin. So for example, the last energy bill was politics as usual, so that business as usual could continue.

Here's the equation that got us into this mess, and that is keeping us here: BAU = PAU = Global Warming.

This is a big one. Somehow, somebody, somewhere will arise who can lead the way out of the desert of special interests -- coal, oil, nuclear, auto -- to another way of doing business and representing the popular will. Let's be ready to throw our weight.

4. Become the Champion of Preserving the World's Remaining Forests
The remaining tropical forests of the globe are like the lungs of the earth, and they are on life support.

With all the insular discussion in America about energy security and freedom from foreign oil, we little realize the crucial role that these forests have to play in assuring our survival as a species.

These forests are where the vast reservoir of biodiversity and nature's most prolific bounty resides. More starkly, the pace at which these forests are being destroyed releases enough carbon each year to contribute a full 20% of the emissions that are causing global warming.

Without these forests, we are irrevocably impoverished, suffocated and doomed.

That's why we cannot tolerate a news story like this one -- headlined "US Hijacks Climate Talks - Rainforests Used as Hostage" -- ever again:

The United States again wrought havoc at UN Climate Change talks. In
the early morning hours of talks, as diplomats faced exhaustion, the
United States pulled the equivalent of a diplomatic nuclear option,
scuttling frantic global efforts to save tropical forests.

The problem we face is GLOBAL warming. It will require global leadership.

5. Kick the Coal Habit Forever
There is no need to build another coal plant in the United States ever again, just as there is no need for anyone to smoke another cigarette ever again. Cold turkey is the best prescription for both habits that lead to fatal outcomes.

The coal industry employs less than 80,000 people across the entire United States. It is a hugely profitable industry for those few who own it. That is the primary reason that coal continues to have friends in Congress, and that this nation has not served notice upon this form of business as usual.

There is talk of "clean coal" and an expensive ad campaign touting its promise. But clean coal is a myth. It does not exist, and to develop it -- if it it can be done safely -- will be more expensive than developing renewable energy sources. Keep in mind what "clean coal" aims to do: pipe all the carbon smoke deep underground. Where I come from, that's called sweeping something under the rug.

There are better alternatives to develop, which if deployed with intelligence -- and there are many studies that explain just how, much more thoroughly than any "clean coal" ad campaign -- can meet our energy needs, create new jobs, and make our towns and cities cleaner and healthier places to live.

6. Lead the World to Mandatory Emissions Cuts Prescribed by Science
Americans have great faith in medical science. We need to put the same faith in climate science that is prescribing a cure for what ails our feverish planet. Medical cures are not voluntary. Doctors don't say -- "Take two and call me in the morning, if you feel like it." Or "No more cholesterol in your diet or you'll have a heart attack, if you feel like it."

Mandatory emissions cuts are necessary. Period.

And they need to be cut at least 80% by 2050. Period.

That's the cure. Let's lead the way. Period.

7. Impeach Dick Cheney
If a more powerful alien force were to invade America with spaceships in order to find and disarm the most dangerous weapon of mass destruction, what would be at the top of its list of targets?

The paragon of ruthless greed and insider cronyism, the unrepentant champion of fossil fuel, and the driving force behind an unforgivable oil war -- that's who. Can you think of anyone who has done more to retard progress on solving climate? No one else even comes close, and America knows it.

Why wait for science fiction. Let's do the job ourselves. Let's send a message to the world that America is emerging from its darkest age and rejoining the community of nations as the standard-bearer of freedom and democracy -- even before this administration runs its course. We have no time left to lose!

Best wishes to all upon this turning of another year.

May the curses of the year gone by be behind us, may the blessings of the coming year be upon us.

• ‹ previous
• up
• next ›